Race Report:

I started off this week on a sour running note. While out for an easytrail run, I mis-stepped on one of my clodhoppers and collapsed myankle all the way to the ground, resulting in excruciating pain. I waited10 minutes or so for the pain to subside and went on my merry way foranother 6 miles or so, feeling ok. After the run I went for a swim, at which point the pain came back, so I cut it short. After just a little while,the ankle swelled up like a racquetball. On Tuesday I left for Orlandofor a short business trip after my usual running rest day and 2 mile swimin the pool (which didn't seem to irritate it). I went for a 13 mile run onWednesday, which didn't hurt at all, but resulted in more swelling afterthe run. Short run Thursday and a bit on the exercise bike, resulted inmore swelling. At this point, I decided to cut off any further activityand recover as much as possible before the tri. As is always the case,by Sunday after little to nothing for a few straight days, my congestionbecomes unbearable. However, the swelling is down and I'm feelingok.

It's cool out in the morning, but not as bad as I had expected. The wateris in the mid-60s and the air temp is about 58 or so. I hop in, 10-15 minutes before the start, determined not to experience the horrendousswim panic I had last year. After about 5 minutes, I was shiveringlike crazy in the water. Then it starts to rain. Not too noticeablein the water, but I feared what was to come on the bike course. I neverride in the rain and the couple of times I've been caught in the rain, oreven on wet ground, have been very bad experiences. I decided to stay in the very back of the pack in the water, on theoutside (as opposed to up at the front, on the inside) and wait untileveryone moves forward for a bit before starting. This paid off overall,but still had its challenges. It wasn't long before I started catchingup with the slower part of the mob and was challenged with figuringout how to get around them. Nonetheless, I was comfortable, which wasthe most important thing. I was wiggling my way through and around thecrowds, rounding the corners around the buoys as widely as possible.Although I was always in a crowd, generally I passed people the wholetime and felt good all the while. I came in around 29:40, about 10 secondsor so faster than last year, but feeling 100% better. My average heartrate was 159, about 20 beats higher than my usual swim heart rateat the same pace. When I came out ofthe water, my usual trusty wetsuit did not want to come off. The zipperstuck. I was going crazy trying to get it unzipped, finally successful afterabout 2-3 minutes (but what felt like 10 minutes). All-in-all, I was happywith my 4 minute+ transition, because it was still much faster than lastyear! I get to my bike, which is soaking wet from head to toe. I put on mywet socks and bike shoes and run my bike up to the mounting area. Chain pops off right away. Took me a couple of minutes to get it properlyset. Finally, I'm on my way, getting into a groove. The rain is still comingdown and roads are slick. I'm wondering how brave I really feel on thiscourse with many steep sharp turns. Clearly the weather was gettingto everyone because I encountered cluster after cluster of careful bikers.It became a major challenge to figure out how to get by without dangerand penalty. I don't think I was ever able to ride my own race with allof the bike clusters. I was riding at about my marathon heart rate ofaround 172, but really not trying to maintain a particular max. My heartrate was way high for this pace, which I know is due to the few daysoff as that's what I generally see. Suffice itto say I survived the ride averaging just over 20 mph, about 0.5 mphfaster than last year, this time in much crappier conditions. Transition to run wentwell, in just over 1:30. Goal for the run is sub-45 minutes, perhaps a bitof a stretch after 3 solid days off and not having run the course at allthis year. I felt great through the entire run, no ankle pain or anything,heart rate a bit high, but not as bad as on the bike. Finish time was 45:04,slightly off goal, but still satisfying, a couple of minutes faster than lastyear. All-in-all an 11 minute improvement over last year, a very comfortablefinish, and no swim panic! I really didn't need much of anything to drinktoday with the cooler temperatures, around 5 or 6 ounces of acceleradeafter the swim, nothing during the bike, and a cup of gatorade at four ofthe stops on the run. Next is eagleman 70.3 and my sinus surgery a fewdays later. Good time for a few weeks of rest, recovery, and misery.